Health Care Professionals around the

Bed: Interprofessional Care and Collaborative Practice in NHS Hospitals

Bachchu Kailash Kaini* and Ulke Veersma**, Business School, University of Greenwich, London

(*Mr Kaini has been working in health care field since last 20 years in different capacities as a hospital manager and currently he is doing PhD at Business School, University of Greenwich, London; **Dr Veersma, Senior Lecturer, Business School, University of Greenwich, London)

Context Changes in demographic structure such as ageing population

Increased cost of care and significant proportion of public budget for health services

Pressure on efficiency savings

Advances in technology

Changing health care environment requires new ways of working & collaborative practice

Government policy to promote partnership and interprofessional collaboration

Health care is multifaceted and complex activity

Concept of specialties and sub-specialties emerging

Expansion of roles of health care professionals (HCPs): the development of strategies, policies,

service re-design and improvement

More choices for critical well informed patients

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Research Questions HCPs work within organisational boundaries & legal, cultural, political & technological

frameworks

Health care (HC) is based on co-ordinated activities of professionals from various disciplines

Health service delivery dependant on health care professionals

o Medical Professionals

o Nursing Professionals o Allied Health Professionals

Professionals’ identity and autonomy within the HCPs community are different and

sometimes clashing with each other

Research questions:

o How do various interprofessional and multi-disciplinary health care teams interact and function in hospitals?

o How does interprofessional teamwork and interaction influence the job satisfaction of HCPs & team

performance in hospitals?

Pilot Study Qualitative study

o One team of HC professionals in a NHS hospital in London o Interview with medical, nursing and AHP o Semi structured research schedule used o Observation of the clinical practice and teamwork in a real work environment

Findings of the pilot study o Roles and responsibilities of HCP well defined o Teamwork is part of their professional life and believed to promote collaboration o Professional autonomy is accepted and respected o Variety of personal and interprofessional skills and competencies are required to deliver effective

interprofessional care o Professional boundaries & norms vital to identify root causes of conflict and, hence ways to address it o Interprofessional collaboration and teamwork is desirable as it brings many benefits to service users

and HC professionals o Interprofessional collaboration boost employee morale and increase job satisfaction o Few opportunities for interprofessional learning and training are available at the organisational level

Next Step

Case study research o One NHS hospital in London

o Different teams with a different composition and types of professionals

o HC professionals examine and assess their tasks from their perspectives

Interviews with semi structured schedule

Observations of clinical practice and teamwork

Focus groups

Surveys

Documents analysis

Field work and secondary data analysis

Ethnographic research method o Exploring interactions, behaviours and perceptions of HC professionals

o Holistic insights into participant’s views and action

o Multiple data sources and methods of data collection

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